If I didn't have **** luck...

[clutchdust]

I have been trying to think of different ways to title this thread. Came up with:
There is a God, and he hates me.
I hate people.
Two steps forward, one step back.
But I think "**** luck" pretty much sums up my life in general.
Story is, the Mrs was driving home Saturday night. She had a great day, I had a pretty good day. We should have known some cosmic power was about to slap us down for daring to think life doesn't always suck. Of course, it's getting dark earlier and this is about 6:30, just after sundown. I get a call from her and she says, "I hit something. It looked like a car hood".
****.
She gets home and sure enough, car is banged.
We jump in the truck and go to the site, on the freeway right before our exit. I find various parts of what I think is some kind of heavy gauge stainless steel kitchen countertop kind of thing. **** is like 16 gauge stainless. There was another car there, another lady ran over the **** and it cut her tire. Neither of them actually saw the ******* that dropped this ****. I'm betting it was some ******* messicans that carry six hundred pounds worth of broken **** in the back of an S-10 held in by 13'7" of fishing line. Can't prove it, but we have enough of them that it's a fair bet.
The good news is I don't think anything structural or mechanical got hurt. I crawled underneath and checked but saw nothing of major concern.
Bad news is the front bumper cover is toast.
Without further venting, here you go.

 

[mrvette]

****!!#$$ sorry to see that, pretty car to boot....

about 2 weeks ago my wife got hit in the rear, just setting at a light....

in her Miata...that is the 4th time in her life she has been hit in the rear just setting still....and the 3rd in the last ten years we been married....

what's the odds?? here I been driving over 1/2 a century and I not hit once in the rear...

:hissyfit::clobbered:

 

[DeeVeeEight]

Are you sure that you don't want to say
Thank God it wasn't 32" higher?
It looks like it can be fixed
Look at the bright side, now you have something you can post in the Paint and Body section.hoto:
I'm glad she's OK, the damage to the car could have been worse.
I feel your pain....

 

[SmokinBBC]

Ouch!

I feel for ya man. I've been through that before. Last time it was a piece of wood that was thrown up from the car in front of my wife's. Hit the windshield and crack.

Penalties should be high for unsecured cargo....but how do you catch them after the fact:hunter:

 

[68/70Vette]

Penalties should be high for unsecured cargo....but how do you catch them after the fact:

I used to do a lot of weekend freeway driving. (My mom and dad were in rest homes 90 miles apart!) Mattresses. These are really dangerous. It takes two people to load a mattress in a pickup truck, they're heavy and bulky. So after you get this heavy thing in the pickup truck, they'll be lightly tied in. People apparently think that a heavy mattress is secure enough just setting the the truck bed. But at 65 75 miles an hour, there's apparently a lot of aerodynamic lift. So I would sometimes see a mattress laying in a freeway lane. I would imagine that for someone on a motorcycles, being forced to run over one would be fatal. Also, for a low slung car, like a Corvette, the thing would probably ball up under the car and lift all four wheels off the ground and maybe twist the car sideways. Also, there's other pieces of furniture that fall off onto the freeway.

 

[mrvette]

Ouch!

I feel for ya man. I've been through that before. Last time it was a piece of wood that was thrown up from the car in front of my wife's. Hit the windshield and crack.

Penalties should be high for unsecured cargo....but how do you catch them after the fact:hunter:

Some years ago a dumb ass had a unsecured ladder on back of his pickup, it flipped off on a local 3.5 mile bridge over the river here....

and it was hit by a SUV with a outta town couple on board....over the side and dead.....

:hissyfit::crap::banned:

 

[MYBAD79]

I hit a mattress a few years back.... felt like my Camaro got airborne.....

The damage looks like it can be repaired (3M 8115 and backing material/mesh).

Bumper to hood line seems to be off, hopefully you can bend the brackets and fix it....

Most important thing is she's fine and didn't get hurt.....

 

[Oahuyahoo]

If it isn't one thing it's another. The only thing you can do is get out the robe, carpet slippers, lock the frecken doors and grab a bottle for the rest of your life. Otherwise this **** is going to happen and happen and happen.

 

[Bullshark]

Yeh Clutch, that is sure a pain in the butt alright, but....you know better than most of us, not to sweat the small ****. :sweat: Hang in there dude. :drink:

 

[big2bird]

That's what insurence is for Gary. Let it go.
Hell, last year my truck got $1,200 damage, and I was parked at the salvage yard. Clown stared right at me, and side swiped me while backing out, then tried to run.:crap:

 

[clutchdust]

I know, I know. Really, she's lucky it wasn't worse.
It just seems like whenever we start to catch our breath some **** comes to slap us down. In this instance, the c5 is the only vehicle we have (had) where everything works and the car was in relatively good shape. She has been complaining for a while about having to drive it regularly, fearing something just like this. Besides, as you know being a Corvette, repairs, especially paint, are going to seriously kill the value of this car.
The real variable is the "Mario Andretti" signature. I'm thinking since it's a signed car, customization is kind of an accepted thing. Then again, I don't know if the value is contingent on the car being in the same configuration as it was in the commercials.

 

[MYBAD79]

here's a good example of what CAN happen ..... wow.....

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjV2m70hA4o[/ame]

that little bumper damage isn't all that bad :huh:

 

[68L71]

here's a good example of what CAN happen ..... wow.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjV2m70hA4o

that little bumper damage isn't all that bad :huh:

:crap: holy...

 

[keywestjack]

Sorry about the damage. I sometimes think I am the only one that can say **** happens...to me more often that not. I then think of my clients, they alway have something go wrong and they always blame someone else or just flat out deny any involvement. My point in the grander scheme of things your wife is ok, your car can be fixed (probably better than new) and we all go on to another day. Thank God we all can...btw, hate you no, I believe he loves you unconditionally. As for the Mexicans, I bet the driver that lost that **** was of anglo decent, maybe the product of two first cousins but anglo. Jack

 

[big2bird]

here's a good example of what CAN happen ..... wow.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjV2m70hA4o

that little bumper damage isn't all that bad :huh:

:crap: holy...

:crap:

 

[clutchdust]

... As for the Mexicans, I bet the driver that lost that **** was of anglo decent, maybe the product of two first cousins but anglo. Jack

You, my friend, obviously don't live around here. It's a fair bet it was messicans just based on shear numbers. Add to that how often I see them trolling the neighborhoods picking up almost anything, regardless of condition, just adds to that. I have no idea what they do with all this junk. One time I put out an old carpet cleaner with a burnt motor, the plastic was taken off and cord cut. It was gone in four hours, back of some truck with a bunch of other stuff I would have paid money to dispose of.

 

[mrvette]

... As for the Mexicans, I bet the driver that lost that **** was of anglo decent, maybe the product of two first cousins but anglo. Jack

You, my friend, obviously don't live around here. It's a fair bet it was messicans just based on shear numbers. Add to that how often I see them trolling the neighborhoods picking up almost anything, regardless of condition, just adds to that. I have no idea what they do with all this junk. One time I put out an old carpet cleaner with a burnt motor, the plastic was taken off and cord cut. It was gone in four hours, back of some truck with a bunch of other stuff I would have paid money to dispose of.

Sure, the 2 bux he got for the motor paid for the gas to cruise your hood, the rest is damn nearly free at that point....in 2 hours, he probably made over 100 bux in clear profit.....see them all over the joint here too, ever trash day, like today Wed, so last night maybe 6 trucks with trailers FULL of **** went by the house, even on weekends....

:hissyfit::nuts: but it does keep the curbs clean.....

 

[big2bird]

... As for the Mexicans, I bet the driver that lost that **** was of anglo decent, maybe the product of two first cousins but anglo. Jack

You, my friend, obviously don't live around here. It's a fair bet it was messicans just based on shear numbers. Add to that how often I see them trolling the neighborhoods picking up almost anything, regardless of condition, just adds to that. I have no idea what they do with all this junk. One time I put out an old carpet cleaner with a burnt motor, the plastic was taken off and cord cut. It was gone in four hours, back of some truck with a bunch of other stuff I would have paid money to dispose of.

Sure, the 2 bux he got for the motor paid for the gas to cruise your hood, the rest is damn nearly free at that point....in 2 hours, he probably made over 100 bux in clear profit.....see them all over the joint here too, ever trash day, like today Wed, so last night maybe 6 trucks with trailers FULL of **** went by the house, even on weekends....

:hissyfit::nuts: but it does keep the curbs clean.....

I have 6 trucks a day cruise by. I cannot for the life of me figure out how the fuel exspense clears a profit. (No white guys here senoir)

 

[clutchdust]

I have at least two that have pissed on the fire hydrants in my neighborhood. One in particular drives an older Dodge Durango pick up. For the first few months I kept wondering why he was hauling around an old bed frame, then I figured out that was just his right lateral limit for keeping the **** in the back of the truck. I've seen this guy hauling all kinds of worthless **** from old water heaters to baby strollers to <broken> plastic storage tubs.

 

[MYBAD79]

I've seen this guy hauling all kinds of worthless **** from old water heaters to baby strollers to <broken> plastic storage tubs.

there's no limit....
.

.

.
.
.

and this is a photo i took in Cocoa, FL .... amazing stuff...



.

 

[keywestjack]

:crylol: How green

 

[greg75vette]

That's big around here as well. Mostly metal objects are taken. I've seen pickups with stacks of **** in the back 3 to 4' higher than the cab. Luckily, most of them drive slow and tie it down; I never see trash in the road.

But I've noticed lately they've been taking a lot of non metal junk as well. I just put what was left of an old office chair with no roller assembly or cylinder...just the seat...and they took that even though it had a broken arm which held the seat and back together. Who knows what that would be good for.

Scrap can bring some good money, though. Seemed like ever carpenter that lost his job after the housing bubble broke here was using his 'old' work truck.

I also wonder how they make a profit with the cost of fuel.

 

[big2bird]

That's big around here as well. Mostly metal objects are taken. I've seen pickups with stacks of **** in the back 3 to 4' higher than the cab...................

I also wonder how they make a profit with the cost of fuel.

Well, I am doing a home renovation at the present time. It involves gutting the plumbing, and re plumbing the DWV and the copper supplies.
I made a pile of cast iron, galv pipe, black pipe, and some copper #2.
I really thought it was worthless, as #2 copper is way down, and steel is pennies a pound, SO, I gave it to my neighbor Steve.
He got $75.00.:hissyfit:
BUT, since it was over $30, they took pictures of the scrap, his truck, his plates, profiles and front of Steve, copy of drivers license, and it will take 2 days to get a check in the mail.:crap:
I almost care about it now. Actually, my time is precious these days, as Winter is gaining strength, and my project is way behind schedule.:hissyfit:

 

[mrvette]

Jeff, yeh, rite, you live in a Los Angeles burb? right?? and so you worry over WINTER?? seriously?? here I thought I was the sensitive one to cold temps....going down to 42f here tonight......supposedly, bet we not below 50f....

:hissyfit:

 

[big2bird]

Jeff, yeh, rite, you live in a Los Angeles burb? right?? and so you worry over WINTER?? seriously?? here I thought I was the sensitive one to cold temps....going down to 42f here tonight......supposedly, bet we not below 50f....

:hissyfit:

If I can't wear shorts and flip flops, it's cold Gene.:hissyfit:

 

[mrvette]

Jeff, yeh, rite, you live in a Los Angeles burb? right?? and so you worry over WINTER?? seriously?? here I thought I was the sensitive one to cold temps....going down to 42f here tonight......supposedly, bet we not below 50f....

:hissyfit:

If I can't wear shorts and flip flops, it's cold Gene.:hissyfit:

Yeh, it's off to the flea markets and buy a couple more pair of dungarees, 5 bux/pair here....I wear sandals as much as possible, but have a pair of size 15 velcro tie strap shoes for this cold weather, kinds clumsey then driving.....

:hissyfit::crylol: